Date: 033008
Title: Fear, Doubt, and Belief
Text: John 20:19 - 31
Over the last couple of weeks we celebrated Palm Sunday, then Maundy Thursday, Good Friday where Christ was betrayed and crucified. Then on Easter we celebrated with joy and gladness Christ’s resurrection.
Yet for the 1st century followers of Christ, the transition from sadness to celebration wasn’t as immediate as it is for us today. After all, we’ve had 2000 years to think about and articulate what that means for us and to have seen what effect it has on our lives.
So keeping in mind the events as mentioned in the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John imagine with me a small room in the city of Jerusalem 2000 years ago. The sun is setting as the first Easter day is coming to a close. Some of Jesus’ closest followers have huddled together in this place trying to make sense of all that has been going on—afraid of what may happen next. They have securely locked the doors out of fear for what the Jewish leaders may do.
But it is also a time filled with unexpected, exciting news. Mary Magdalene and other women have reported seeing Jesus alive. Perhaps Cleopas and another disciple enter the room and they begin sharing what had just happened to them in Emmaus. As they were walking a stranger had joined them. They told him about the events surrounding Jesus’ death. They told him about strange reports coming from women who had seen him alive. By the time they got to Emmaus a friendship had developed so they invited the man to join them for supper. It was there at the supper table as the stranger began breaking the bread and blessing the meal that they suddenly realized that this was Jesus himself.
I imagine them still telling their story when suddenly right there with them Jesus appears! They are startled, but Jesus responds with these words, “Peace be with you”
A greeting they have certainly heard before from Jesus, it was a common greeting as teachers and rabies entered people’s homes. But this time it was much more than a simple greeting, it was a message that they certainly needed. Luke’s recording of this story says that they were so afraid, that when Jesus appeared they thought he was a ghost, they were terrified.
Jesus immediately calms their fears, “Peace be with you,” something they definitely needed.
“God has not given us the spirit of fear but of love and of power and of a sound mind.” Fear causes torment, and these disciples were being tormented by thoughts and vain imaginations. Have you ever been fearful of what might happen next in your life? Worried about what might happen to your job, with your relationships. Worried about your kids, your parents, your friends?
What a strange thing was happening in that room. The Prince of Peace came to them and they were afraid. He is the very one who can calm all their fears. He is the one who had told them before his death, (John 14:27) “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”. But in that room, they were very afraid. He proved to them that he was not a spirit, not a ghost. He showed them his hands and side. They saw clearly that this is indeed the resurrected Christ.
At that very moment John tells us their fears were gone. Their sorrow turned to joy. Their hopes revived. Their awareness of his presence is what turned their world around.
Are you aware of Christ’s presence in your life today? Are you mindful of him as you go through your daily duties? We may discover more peace in our lives if we learn to nurture our awareness of Christ’s presence. The more we partner with Christ during the day, the more we depend upon him for guidance and strength, the more conscious we become of his presence in our lives.
But then what? What do we do with this peace that Christ gives us? Do we take it go home and do nothing? Absolutely not. Jesus follows the peace with a charge, As the Father has sent me, so I send you.
Our faith calls us to be instruments of peace, love and hope in the world just as Christ was and is for us. God desires for us to have a life that is full of joy and peace, a peace that comes from knowing that Christ is in our midst.
Our faith is active and interactive. James chapter 2:16 says, “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what good is that?”
My second year in seminary I was preaching at a church that described itself as warm and inviting. As I preached a homeless man came and sat in the back, cloths dirty and messed up, wearing a hat and looked quite nervous. It must have taken a lot of courage for him to walk into church that morning. A few minutes later a church member walks up to him whispers something and walks away. The man immediately took off his hat looked down to the floor and left. After church I asked the member what he said, he looked at me and said “I told him if wanted to stay he must take that hat off” Let me tell you if that man wasn’t twice my size I would have beat him up right then and there. How inviting.
Our faith is not an empty faith, one that is full of good words, nice things to say and a bunch of rules to follow, rather it is a faith that is compassionate, active in our lives, in our communities and in our world.
All round us there are those who are homeless and hungry, praying for them is great but a more powerful expression of our faith would be giving our time, and talents as well as our prayers for those around us that are in need.
Then the story turns to Thomas who was one of the 12 disciples, he wasn’t with them when Jesus appeared to them that time. Scripture tells us that the disciples were afraid and met all together in that room, why Thomas wasn’t with them, we’re not told. And when the disciples tell him what happened later on, his response was “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hands in his side, I will not believe.”
My first response to Thomas’s comment was well, were where you? The situation was important enough that the other disciples were all gathered together why weren’t you there, and I began to think of those times when we do the same thing. We stop going to church, we don’t pray as much as we should, we don’t spend time reading scripture, and we let our relationship with God take a back seat to all the other things that we do in life and then we dare to say “if we don’t see, we will not believe.” How can we ask God to reveal God’s self to us if we aren’t even looking for a relationship with Him. How can we say we want that relationship to grow if we’re not spending time nurturing it?
Unless our relationship with God becomes a priority in our life and in the life of our families, it will be hard for us to see God’s presence in our lives.
Then I thought perhaps another possible reason behind Thomas respond, may have been quite the opposite of the first. His answer may have been an expression of emotional pain. When you talk about the Lord to people who are in pain as Thomas may have been, don’t be surprised if they snap back with doubt. He had invested his time, his energy, and his life to following Jesus and now suddenly his mentor, his teacher, is savior is gone, or so he thinks. So fearful of getting his hopes up again, he doubts, “unless I see and feel, I will not believe.”
Yet regardless of the reason why Thomas doubted, Christ’s response was quiet compassionate. He deals with him in much the same way he graciously deals with us.
Again Jesus appears in their midst, this time Thomas is with them. Just as before, he begins with those precious words, “Peace be with you.” But watch how he turns and gives his attention to the one who needs him most. Jesus turns to Thomas and tells him, “Put your finger her; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side.” What an incredible display of grace that was.
Then came the message to Thomas, “Stop doubting and believe.” The evidence are more than enough to support your faith. Now you must make a choice. Will you choose to continue in your unbelief? Or will you now choose to stop doubting and believe? Doesn’t the Lord have to say something like that to us at times? I think there is a little of Doubting Thomas in all of us. The Lord understands our weakness, our temptation and our struggles and is gracious. But there comes that moment when we must decide to embrace the truth, stop doubting, and believe.”
I love Thomas’ response. Regardless of his failings in the past this is his finest hour. Thomas addresses Jesus with these 5 words, “My Lord and my God!” The doubter has become the worshipper. He has surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, declaring Jesus to be his God. This is where we all must be in our commitment to the Lord. Until he is my Lord and my God I cannot fully enter into his purpose for my life, and neither can you.
Easter is past, Christ is risen, How will you live your life? Will you wake up every morning uttering the first words of Thomas, “if I don’t see and feel, I will not believe?” or will you embrace each new day with a shout of confidence saying to Christ the final words of Thomas “my Lord and my God!” AMEN.
